Events: Cannella’s, Negroni Week, Spencers

Cannella’s – If you’re looking for something to liven up your Wednesday (June 8th) this week – what about a Night Of New Zealand Wine at Cannella’s Restaurant and Lounge with Vine Lore’s Tamerin Smith. Dinner begins at 6.30 p.m. and cost is $30 for food and $30 for wine. Menu is as follows:

* New Zealand Green Lips Mussels – coconut milk, ginger and shallot broth with grilled baguette
* Otto’s Constant Dream Sauvignon Blanc

* Roasted Beet Salad Beets – mangos, arugula, feta cheese, maple vinaigrette
* Oyster Bay Chardonnay

* Herb Crusted New Zealand Lamb Chops – chickpea mashed, brussels Sprouts
* Otto’s Constant Dream Pinot Noir

* Dark Chocolate Mousse, – whipped goat cheese, raspberries
* Oyster Bay Merlot

204 500 S, Salt Lake City, UT 84111
(801) 355-8518
www.cannellasrestaurant.com

Classic Negroni with Beehive gin

Negroni Week In Salt Lake City – If you’ve seen social media lighting up this week, you may have already noted Negroni Week is upon us once more. While the cynic in me often raises my eyebrows at brand-driven, arbitrary days, weeks or months – the kick off event this Monday evening at Stanza put me in my place.

Did you know that Utah is the second driest state in the union? What about the state with the highest water usage too? No, me neither, until I discovered the second element to Negroni Week – supporting local charities. In the case of Utah, a buck from every Negroni sale is donated to the Utah Rivers Council; a grassroots organization dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of Utah’s rivers and sustainable clean water sources for Utah’s people and wildlife.

All through this week (June 6-12) several restaurants around town will be offering a take on the classic cocktail. Bars and restaurants mixing cocktails to support the URC include Under Current Bar, Current Fish & Oyster, Stanza, Caffé Niche, Trio Café Cottonwood and Trio Downtown, Oasis Café, Takashi, Honeycomb Grill, High West Distillery, Handle, Tupelo, Copper Common, Pallet, O.P. Rockwell, and Tinwell.

Stanza Bar area, come grab a negroni

As for the drink itself, Main Course Management’s James Santangelo recounted the popular story during the kick off. Way back when, Count Camillo Negroni (yup there really is one) ordered up his favorite Americano cocktail (one part Campari, one part Vermouth) and asked for it strong. A man after my own liver. A clear spirit was in order, and with vodka not being particularly fashionable – gin it was. Club soda nixed and a slice of orange peel for good measure and the negroni we know today was born.

Negronis at Stanza

The Main Course Management group of restaurants in particular are really getting behind the week at all their locations, and indeed, Negronis are a featured cocktail on Stanza’s menu all year long. Some of the groups recipes for the week include:

Under Current Bar
Rye Negroni Flip with whole egg, rye Campari and sweet vermouth

Current Fish & Oyster
Sparking Quill with sweet vermouth, Campari, gin and sparkling wine

Stanza
Coccinella with sweet vermouth, Campari, chocolate bitters, lime and simple syrup

Café Niche
Italian ’75 with lemon, gin, Campari and rose bubbles

Trio Café Cottonwood and Trio Café Downtown
Salted Mezcal Negroni with chocolate bitters, saline, Campari, sweet vermouth and chocolate bitters

Oasis Café
Bellini Negroni with house made Campari sorbet

Spencers – On July 8th, join chef Michael Pleines and crew at one of SLC’s best steakhouses. From 6:30 p.m. enjoy a five course menu paired with Elk Cove wines from Willamette Valley.

Cost for the dinner is $90 for food, $35 for wine and the evening is limited to 24 guests. The menu for the night is as follows:

* Country Style Pork Terrine -white peach chutney, frisee salad, toasted almonds
* Elk Cove Pinot Gris

Charred Octopus – compressed watermelon salad, feta cheese, candy stripped beets, arugula, strawberry white balsamic vinaigrette
* Elk Cove Pinot Noir RosÉ

* Alaskan King Salmon – black currant compote, local farmer’s market vegetables
* Elk Cove Willamette Valley Pinot Noir

* Duck Confit – black cherry gastrique, mascarpone moullard butter, duck chicharrón, potato dauphinoise
* Elk Cove Mount Richmond Pinot Noir

* Braised Venison – smoked bacon, venison jus, creamy vanilla, polenta, charred vegetables
* Elk Cove Roosevelt Pinot Noir

255 S W Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
(801) 238-4748
http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/utah/hilton-salt-lake-city-center-SLCCCHH/dining/spencers.html

Gastronomic SLC is a proud local partner of Vine Lore and Main Course Management restaurants.

Stuart Melling

Hi, I’m Stuart, nice to meet you!  I’m the founder, writer and wrangler at Gastronomic SLC.  I’m a multiple-award winning journalist and have written in myopic detail about the Salt Lake City  dining scene for the better part of seventeen years.

I’ve worked extensively with multiple local publications from Visit Salt Lake to Salt Lake Magazine, not least helped to consult on national TV.   Pause those credits, yep, that’s me! I’m also a former restaurant critic of more than five years, working for the Salt Lake Tribune.    I’m largely fueled by a critical obsession with rice, alliteration and the use of big words I don’t understand.   What they’re saying about me: “Not inaccurate”, “I thought he was older”, “I don’t share his feelings”.

Want to know more? This is why I am the way I am.